The new jewellery mall in the making is set to shake up the jewellery rental market in Dubai as it claims to be renting out premises at rates 75 to 80 per cent less than existing ones.
Presently known as the Al Attar Escala, the name will soon change to New Gold Souk Center.
The attractive ground floor of the building, located in the heart of the city directly across Port Rashid on Al Mina Road, will display more than 50 jewellers.
Already over 10 leading jewellers from the UAE and other parts of the world, including Europe, have booked space.
Vijay Dawda, chief executive of Gems Star Properties, which manages the 30,000-square-foot mall said he expects the mall to achieve full occupancy by this summer, when the mall is likely to be officially opened.
"Rent is a big issue being faced by the owners of the gold jewellry outlets in Dubai and hence our main focus was on letting out outlets at affordable price," Dawda said.
He added that quality will be the thrust area in the New Gold Souk Center, meaning that the outlets will have to maintain certain standards not only on the products but on the after sales services offered to the customers.
According to some outlet owners at the Gold Souq in Dubai, rent is now a major part of their costs and it keeps going up. "On the one hand, the fluctuation in the gold price has affected the sales volumes and profitability, and on the other, the expenditure incurred keeps increasing," said a jeweller.
The New Gold Souk Center estimates that once fully occupied, the value of stock in the mall would exceed Dh367 million ($100 million).
According to Dawda, the mall is the first of its kind in the Middle East to be managed in such a way that it makes everyone happy.
"Until now, there has been no mall promoted by a professional jeweller who knows what tenants need to do to promote their business and understands what shoppers expect," he said.
The mall is also expected to create employment for an estimated 250 people.
Gulf News
